A compelling film based on a true story will keep the audience engaged even if they know the outcome. If you didn’t hear about Chris Lemons’ logic-defying survival story in 2012, perhaps you learned about it in the 2019 documentary, Last Breath. Six years later, that documentary’s co-director, Alex Parkinson, revisits Lemons’ story in a narrative feature. For those who have seen the original doc, there might not be many surprises. Then again, most people will likely go into the theater assuming the film has a happy ending. Why else would they be making a movie about Lemons? They’re looking for something intense yet life-affirming, which Last Breath more or less delivers.
English actor Finn Cole plays Lemons, a young deep sea diver with a pregnant fiancé (Bobby Rainsbury) at home. Lemons’ team includes the reserved David Yuasa (Simu Liu) and old-timer Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson), who’s just one dive away from forced retirement. That last part sounds cliched, but Last Breath nonetheless does an effective job of establishing the comradery between these three men. The early scenes between Lemons and his fiancé don’t come off as manipulative either as Cole and Rainsbury create a sincere bond with the limited time they have. Speaking of which, Last Breath is tightly paced, clocking in at roughly the same run time as its 88-minute predecessor.
It isn’t long until Lemons is submerged more than 300 feet underwater where something inevitably goes wrong. Trapped in the North Sea with limited oxygen, it’s a race against the clock to rescue Lemons before he runs out of air. Even after Lemons is on his literal last breath, he manages to hang in there, but how long can he go? Cinematographer Alistair McCormick creates a sense of claustrophobia, at times making us feel like we’re stuck in Lemons’ diving suit. The film loses some of its momentum, though, whenever we cut to a ship attempting to aid Lemons.
Cliff Curtis plays the ship’s captain with a crew including MyAnna Buring. While the performances are solid, these characters are essentially dropped into the plot with little background information. Even if they aren’t the focus of the story, it’d be nice to know anything about them. Last Breath also has something of a main character problem. The ads have played up Harrelson as the lead, which makes sense seeing how he’s the film’s biggest star. He’s truly a supporting player, however. This is Lemons’ story, but since he spends most of the story unconscious, there isn’t a ton of growth on his end.
There’s an extraordinary survival story at the core of Last Breath. It may not translate to an extraordinary movie, but it is a well-executed one. The characters are just engaging enough to keep us invested, largely thanks to the cast’s likability. Despite much of the action being set in pitch blackness, we can still see what’s going on. It’s a totally serviceable survival picture that could easily be mistaken for a Jerry Bruckheimer production. Even if it won’t take your breath away, more than a few moments will leave you on edge (perhaps gasping for air).